Author(s)

Related Service Areas

Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis jointly introduced a proposed rule addressing changes made to the Family and Medical Leave Act by the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2010 (actually enacted in 2009) and the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act. The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor will accept comments on the proposed rule for a period of 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. (The rule has not yet been published there.)

The 2010 NDAA expanded the FMLA leave available to employees for "qualifying exigencies" and "serious injuries or illnesses." Under the new law, qualifying exigency leave was made available based on needs of members of the regular Armed Forces, as well as Reservists and others. Serious injury or illness leave was expanded to include conditions suffered by certain veterans, as well as current service members. Certain aggravations of medical conditions, as well as conditions initially incurred in military duty, are also now covered.

The Airline Act clarified the way that hours of service are used in calculating and charging FMLA leave by members of flight crews.

Based on a first look, the proposed rule appears to be essentially consistent with the new statutes. However, we are continuing to review the proposed rule and will issue a more comprehensive analysis in the near future.This is a publication of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP. The information contained in this newsletter is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, legal advice. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.